First Negligent Discharge.

[huntnful]

*Edited thread title to Negligent, not Accidental*

So I just recently (last year) started using mags, as opposed to hinged floor plates.

So naturally you have to access the mag and the mag release for reloading and what not, much more often then accessing the release of the hinged floor plate.

Yesterday my buddy and I jumped up a monster pig, and the chase was on. Running and gunning. We were leaving the ranch when we spotted the pig, so my gun was totally empty, including the mag, at the time.

We each grabbed a hand full of bullets and each shot twice, just single feeding our rifles to get shots off in the heat of the moment. We did hit the pig, and it dropped in a creek drainage.

So at this moment, I had one in the chamber, but no sight of the pig anymore, and we were still kind of rushing along. So since the pig was out of sight, I decided I was going to drop my mag and load it while we were heading that way. This is all happening in seconds of course. I reach in to release the mag and BOOM. Gun was facing straight up in the air, but the thought of it happening did not sit well with me at all.

Obviously I didn’t put the gun of safety, I threw in the third round and was getting ready for another shot on the running pig, but then he dropped out of sight. And before my mind went to “put the safety on”, it went to “load the mag”. While dropping the mag, which the mag release is located inside the trigger guard, the knuckle of my thumb simultaneously hit the trigger, causing the AD.




So clearly this would have 100% been prevented by putting the safety on. But I didn’t in the heat of the moment, and I’m even a bit of a safety freak.

Even though this wasn’t solely caused by the design and location of the mag release, I’ve now felt very uneasy about the location of the thumb in relation to the trigger when releasing mags. It’s just damn close.

So I’m going to test out these UM bottom metal and mags, that have the release located outside of the trigger area.


Figured I would share in hopes of possibly preventing this from happening to anyone else and hopefully take a little extra caution after reading it. Definitely been on my mind a lot since it happened.

Yes the safety is off on the photos now because I have the firing pin spring released

 

[Fowl Play]

Definitely could have gone way worse. What gun is that? I have never come across a weapon with a mag release inside the trigger guard....

 

[huntnful]

Definitely could have gone way worse. What gun is that? I have never come across a weapon with a mag release inside the trigger guard....

Absolutely could have been much worse.

That the Hawkins M5 DBM bottom metal

 

[kkp005]

Glad no one was hurt and props to you on admitting an error in judgment. Great lesson learned!
Adrenalin can make us do some stupid stuff!

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Definitely could have gone way worse. What gun is that? I have never come across a weapon with a mag release inside the trigger guard....

That.

 

[Gorp2007]

The only critique of John Moses Browning’s masterpiece is that he put the safety lever of the M1 inside the thumb guard.

Glad everyone’s safe, and I like your solution to that poorly designed mag release.

 

[waspocrew]

Definitely could have gone way worse. What gun is that? I have never come across a weapon with a mag release inside the trigger guard....

Plenty of hinged floor plates have the release inside the trigger guard as well.

 

[waspocrew]

Glad to hear no one was hurt!

 

[JohnJohnson]

That the Hawkins M5 DBM bottom metal

Oh alright I was confused for a second, you mean the Hawkins Hunter DBM. I have the M5 and the mag release is dual paddles that aren't within the triggerguard.

 

[huntnful]

Plenty of hinged floor plates have the release inside the trigger guard as well.

View attachment 716386

I think the difference with the hinged floor plate, is you’re hardly ever accessing it with a round in the chamber. Especially not in a face paced scenario. It’s really only accessed to unload the rifle, and you general start with the round in the chamber. That’s what I’ve been accustomed to for several years. So seeing this mag release is the same spot didn’t raise any red flags. But not I release to access the mag under different circumstances compared to dropping a hinged floor plate.

 

[BigAl!]

Yep, the Hawkins Hunter does. I’ve always been cautious but it’s so easy to make a mistake. May have to make a change.

 

[huntnful]

Oh alright I was confused for a second, you mean the Hawkins Hunter DBM. I have the M5 and the mag release is dual paddles that aren't within the triggerguard.

Ohhh yes I know exactly what you’re referring too. Yeah it’s just this specific bottom metal, that fits inside an M5 inlet

 

[huntnful]

Glad no one was hurt and props to you on admitting an error in judgment. Great lesson learned!
Adrenalin can make us do some stupid stuff!

I just felt like this could easily happen to someone else with this same setup. As much as it sucks to admit something like this, it would suck more if it happened to someone else with worse consequences, just because I was too prideful to tell anyone.

 

[BigAl!]

Thanks for sharing. I’m sure some of us, including myself, would like to hear your thoughts on the UM bottom metal and mags at a later date.

 

[long hunter]

No such thing as a accidental discharge, face it ,this was shooter error.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

No such thing as an accidental discharge, face it ,this was shooter error.

Title should probably be “negligent” instead of “accidental” but yeah… Pretty sure OP knows that.

 

[Hoodie]

No such thing as a accidental discharge, face it ,this was shooter error.

There is a difference between an accidental discharge and a negligent discharge. Firearms are mechanical devices that can and do fail. This incident would definitely fall into the latter category though.


Terrible, terrible design feature to have the mag release inside the trigger guard. Get a new rifle.

 

[Jason Snyder]

The OP should be commended for sharing his story in hopes of helping someone else avoid the same situation.

It’s always good to have a safety reminder. Always.

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[huntnful]

No such thing as an accidental discharge, face it ,this was shooter error.

It was 100% my fault without question.

Title should probably be “negligent” instead of “accidental” but yeah… Pretty sure OP knows that.

Yeah either way how it needed to be worried, I just wanted to explain the scenario. But negligent is fine with me. It certainly wasn’t on purpose.

 

[huntnful]

There is a difference between an accidental discharge and a negligent discharge. Firearms are mechanical devices that can and do fail. This incident would definitely fall into the latter category though.


Terrible, terrible design feature to have the mag release inside the trigger guard. Get a new rifle.

Absolutely. I switched it out immediately.

The OP should be commended for sharing his story in hopes of helping someone else avoid the same situation.

It’s always good to have a safety reminder. Always.

Glad no one was hurt.

I can certainly handle some criticism, or I wouldn’t have shared it hahaha